Applejack better have plenty of herbs
Applejack waited patiently on the helicopter as it approached the Biohazard site, Bruce had given her a bulletproof vest.
"I hope you're ready AJ, this is gonna be very dangerous", Bruce stated.
"Ah can handle this", Applejack said.
Bruce seemed unsure about all this, but he didn't want to plant any doubts in Applejack's head.
"We're almost there, brace yourself", Leon said.
Applejack nodded, "So what's the mission exactly?"
"Typical stuff, wipe out the zombies and rescue any survivors, not everything is grand, but we still tackle these places one by one just in case we find something", Bruce said.
"Right, for the most part, we kick some zombie ass!" Applejack said.
"Hell yeah we do", Bruce said.
Chris turned to them, "Remember it's not a game, I want you both fully prepared, especially you Applejack"
Applejack nodded, "Y'all trained me well, ah think I can handle it this time"
"I should hope so", Chris said.
Once the Helicopter landed, Chris gave orders, "Ok split into four teams, me and Jill take the Northeast part, Sheva & Carlos take the Northwest, Leon & Clare take the Southeast, and Bruce & Applejack can take the Southwest, take out all B.O.W.s, keep an eye out for any source of infection and save any survivors you find and bring them here, ok spread out!" Chris said.
Everyone went to their locations, Bruce & Applejack searched their part.
"Ok, remember, keep your gun out and keep an eye out at all times, you see a zombie or any type of infected creature, just shoot it on sight, try to go for the head, kills them faster", Bruce said.
"Right, got it sugarcube", Applejack said.
They looked around for any signs of life or infected.
"Man, lot of tension, not knowing what's gonna happen next", Applejack said.
"You get used to the tension after a while, it's still there but you learn to control it", Bruce said.
At that moment they heard something and got close to each other and aimed their guns.
"Be ready, it could be anything, as you know it ain't just zombies", Bruce warned.
"Right, ah got it"
As the creature approached, they saw that it was a simple zombie.
"Just one so far, helpful hint, when just one try not to shoot it, maybe stab it, saves ammunition, or if you do need to shoot, use a silencer, like this", he grabbed his silencer and shot the zombie in the head, killing it.
"Sometimes this is better and safer, you can kill them without causing too much noise it helps, the nosie migt attract them, so use a silenced weapon or a knife, but the knife should be used if you're sure you won't get bitten, getting too close to an infected creature is dangerous unless you go for a quick kill", Bruce instructed.
"Right", Applejack said.
They both walked around the town and found a group of zombies walking down a street.
"A whole bunch of them suckers right there, now here it doesn't matter too much if you're quiet, good time to just shoot", Bruce put away his silencer and used the handgun regularly, "Normally I'd say use a smaller weapon on zombies and save the bigger weapons for stronger B.O.W.s, but since you only got a Shotgun it don't matter, besides it's just a quick sweep, look for survivors and find B.O.W.s, besides we got plenty of ammunition so we're good', Bruce said.
Applejack nodded and aimed her weapon, "Lets clean this place up"
Both Bruce and Applejack shot the zombies, laying each of them out.
"Wow, this is actually kinda fun, once you get past the blood and guts", Applejack said.
"You used to it after a while", Bruce said.
They continued to fire and wipe out all the zombies, they were done within minutes.
"Hoo-wee, that's some good shootin' there partner", Applejack said.
"Hell yeah, come on lets search around for more infected or any survivors"
They walked through town, shooting any zombie they come across, though they ran into one enemy new to Applejack, a big green lizard thing.
"Bruce, what are those!?" Applejack asked.
"Those are what we call Hunters, careful with those claws", Bruce said.
The creature ran at them but Applejack quickly shot it, casuing it to fall back and scream in pain, Bruce fired a few rounds to finish it off.
"Whoa! That's one quick sucker!" Applejack said.
"Stay close, they usually hunt in packs, why are they here? Are they being tested or something? There a lab they escaped from?" Bruce asked.
They noticed some hunters go into a building, so the duo followed them.
Once inside the looked around and heard some screaming.
"Sounds like survivors", Bruce said.
"Let's go", Applejack said.
They went down the halls to look for any people and a few hunters noticed them, Bruce grabbed his machine gun.
"Take 'em down!" he ordered.
The two opened fire on the Hunters, managing to take them down pretty quickly.
"Get it done!" Applejack said.
They progressed on, shooting all hunters in their path.
"How do you like us now ya bunch of varmits!" Applejack said.
"Right on AJ", Bruce said.
Eventually they reached a fork in the hall.
"Think you can handle searching that way for a moment?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, Ah think so", Applejack said.
"Radio if you need help, I'll be there in a heartbeat", Bruce said.
"Bruce ah can handle it, don't worry about me", Applejack said.
Bruce nodded as they split from each other, Bruce ran down a hall, shooting every zombie in his path.
He eventually encountered a room where there were several survivors.
"Help us!" One of them said.
Bruce spoke into his radio, "Chris, I found some survivors"
"Good, round them up and take them to the helicopter", Chris said over the radio.
Bruce turned from his radio and turned to the survivors, "Ok, follow me and stay close", he spoke back into his radio, "Hey AJ, Ah got some survivors, any luck on your end?"
"Not yet", she replied.
She looked around and shot more zombies, then searched around a corner and saw a group of people in a room.
"Howdy there, I'm here tah-"
The people screamed at the sight of Applejack and ran past her to get away.
"Huh? Where are you going!?" Applejack asked and followed them.
The people kept running, avoiding all the zombies, Applejack ran by and shot the zombies.
"Get back here! Ah want to help y'all!" Applejack yelled out.
The people kept running until they ran to the basement, she followed them and called, "Come back! It's dangerous! I'm gonna take you to safety!"
The people cowered, Applejack noticed it seemed to be a family, a man, a woman, a boy and 2 girls.
"Come on, I'll help yah"
"Get away! We don't know what you are!" The man said.
"I'm just a pony, I'm here to save yah, now just come with me and-"
At that moment a zombie lunged from the shadows and bit the man, freaking out the others.
Applejack freaked, "O-o-oh mah stars! Y'all need to get out now!" Applejack fired at the zombie but more came and attacked the rest of the family.
Applejack freaked out and shot the zombies in an attempt to save the family, unfortunatley all she saw was the zombies feast on the group, seeing the family get torn apart freaked out Applejack as she slowly backed away, tears forming in her eyes.
"No..."
Bruce had radioed her again, "Applejack? You there!? Do you need mah help?"
Applejack slowly grabbed the radio and stuttered as she spoke into it, "B-b-bruce?" she dropped the radio and fell back traumatized, "Ah couldn't save them"
After a few moments, all that's heard is Bruce yelling for Applejack, then he found her, just in time as a zombie was making it's way towards her, he shot the zombie and grabbed Applejack, "AJ what's wrong!?"
She didn't speak so Bruce simply ran off with her and back to the other survivors.
"Is that a pony?" one person asked.
"Don't ask, just follow me", Bruce said.
He lead the survivors to the Helicopter with Applejack in his arms, he set her down, "Stay here, I'm gonna finish up"
Applejack muttered, "Ah thought Ah was ready...ah wasn't, ah let that family die"
"Don't blame yourself, it happens to everyone, just stay for now", Bruce said.
Bruce radioed Chris, "I brought Applejack back to the helicopter, she's guilt ridden cause she couldn't save some people"
"Damn, no big deal then, stuff she needs to learn, just finish up, this town is small so it shouldn't take much longer", Chris said.
"Right", Bruce put his radio away, Chris then radioed Leon & Claire, "Hey Applejack's at the helicopter, she's upset over a failed rescue, can one of you go comfort her?"
"Sure thing, we're on it", Leon turned to Claire, "You're better at comforting others, mind checking on Applejack?" Leon asked.
"Sure thing, be careful out there", Claire said.
She went back to the Chopper and checked on Applejack, who seemed very regretful and had tears in her eyes.
"Ah couldn't pull it off Claire", Applejack said.
She sat next to her and did her best to make her feel better.
The B.O.W. group finished up and brought their survivors back to the helicopter, it wasn't a lot but better than nothing, the helicopter was big enough to handle all those survivors.
Bruce approached Applejack, "You feeling ok?"
Applejack shook her head, "Ah thought I could do things right...ah just let people die...I saw people die...there was a whole family too, 2 girls and a boy, just like mine!" she teared, "Oh man, it's happening again", she held her head, "Make the scary go away!"
Bruce pulled her into a hug, "Take it easy there, it wasn't your fault! Not everything is successful!"
Leon approached her, "People have died under my watch as well, it's happened to us all"
Carlos approached her, "Yeah, I lost a lot of friends doing this stuff, the guilt is unbearable but you can't let it take over you"
Applejack sighed, "Ah still have more to learn ah guess"
"You're prepared physically, you just need to prepare mentally and emotionally, but maybe it's best if you don't, dealing with something like this can leave you a shell of your former self"
Applejack sighed, "It's too late Bruce, I feel too deep in this to back out, though ah thought I could face mah fears but this only scared me more"
Claire approached her, "You'll be fine, and contrary to what Bruce said, it's possible to do this stuff and not be a shell, just keep your family close to your heart, don't let go of the love"
Chris rolled his eyes, "Don't be cheesy Claire"
Claire glared, "Pardon me for helping another, Big Brother"
Chris sat back next to Sheva while the others comforted Applejack.
"This is quite an interesting teammate", Sheva said.
"Yeah, I hope she can get past all this", Chris said.
"She seems to have the support to do so, I think she can turn her downward spiral around"
"She has the support, but she needs to utilize it to her advantage, otherwise she's screwed, I'm also worried for Bruce and the others, they seem to care for her, if she breaks down again and gets killed, it's really gona hurt the team's morale"
Sheva nodded at that, she looked to Applejack, who seemed to be cooling off a bit.
They continued flying to the BSAA, Applejack still had a lot of preparing to do.
Applejack got a small taste of this stuff, she still has a lot more to see, how will she cope with the trauma?
